Surviving Typhoon Haiyan: The Plight of the Filipinos in the Aftermath
Typhoon Haiyan Survivors
Because of Typhoon Haiyan’s recent onslaught, many airlines were forced to halt flights to the Visayas group of islands in order to avoid airline disasters. This is understandable because there were already satellite images circulated days before the typhoon struck showing that this storm was indeed a monster intent on hitting the Philippines with all its might. And it did.
The Philippines is a top destination for many carriers from other countries and also the hub of operations for local airlines such as flag carrier Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific Air. Among the many international airlines that do business flying to and from the Philippines are top carriers such as Japan Airlines, Continental Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and Air France. Airline-Topdeals.com has the best Air France coupon codes for the best airfare deals. In the aftermath of the typhoon, some airports, such as Tacloban Airport, were rendered unusable for some time due to the damage they suffered. Life is slowly going back to “normal,” and that means some airports like Tacloban Airport are now offering some flights again. This is good because there is now a massive exodus of people from the Visayas heading to safer parts of the Philippines.
A Rainbow Appears Above Typhoon Haiyan Survivors
One reason for this exodus is that the storm reportedly left around 4,000 people dead overnight. Many of these victims’ bodies are still lying around in many places in the Visayas because the government has few resources available to remove the bodies right away. As the bodies rot in the sun, this paves the way for disease to spread and fester among the survivors, who now have weakened bodies and immune systems caused by malnutrition. Malnutrition, in turn, is caused by a prolonged lack of good, clean food and clean drinking water. This is the biggest risk that the Visayan population faces after the storm.
Many tourists were left stranded and possibly also killed during the few short hours that the storm was over the Visayas region. Some of these tourists chose to help in the distribution of relief goods and assist other victims. However, for some strange reason, relief goods sent from other parts of the Philippines and from foreign donors were not being distributed to these survivors, who have no other way of getting the food, water, clothing, bedding, and shelter they need. Not surprisingly, survivors resorted to looting stores that they broke into to find enough food and water for themselves and their families. It was unfortunate to see the dark side of human nature exposed as profiteers chose to loot stores and other establishments not because they were dying of hunger and thirst but to rob the stores to get valuables to sell in the black market for money. Claim Qatar Airways promo codes for the entire year, including the December holiday season.
Surviving Typhoon Haiyan
It seemed, based on the camera footage aired on local news channels on TV, that there was generally a breakdown of peace and order as crowds of survivors tried to fight for their survival through looting. Some owners of establishments who had guns ready tried to defend their turf by pulling out their firearms to warn the looters that they were ready to kill anyone who wanted to loot their business. One photo of such an armed business owner directly pointing his pistol at some looters was seen on Facebook and shared among Facebook denizens. This kind of situation was rather shocking and surprising, as this has never been seen before in the aftermath of previous typhoons. Get the latest deals, discounts, or offers on air tickets from Emirates Airline with Emirates coupon codes.
But what was most baffling is why this kind of situation even came to this point, considering that the local government units and the national government were well advised beforehand of the power of this storm and so had time to prepare their people on the ground in the established disaster preparation systems. Until now, the Philippines, particularly in the typhoon-affected areas, has been grappling with the causes of these problems and what to do if stronger storms strike the country again.